Feelings
by Dancin'Andy
Summary: A sand storm, along with help from Gaara, leads Naruto to discover his growing feelings for him. And a little snooping causes Naruto to find out something even better. GaaNaru NaruGaa Naruto's POV Rated T mild language   mild sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1: Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, it would turn into a sappy Shojo manga.

Pairings: GaaNaru

Naruto's POV

This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I had too many ideas, and they were too similar to put into 2-3 separate stories. So I can't do another lazy one-shot. XP (I love those, because I don't have to update them. Lol)

Note: It gets silly and immature in some parts, but I figure I'm allowed a little of that since it _is_ Uzumaki Naruto's point of view, here.

Chapter 1

Questions

"Ugh!" I yell in pain and exhaustion. The burning winds and sand tear at my uncovered skin, and I'm starting to regret taking off my jacket earlier to stay cool under the scorching desert sun. I'm no cooler than I was before, the skin on my arms is horribly sunburned, and I have no idea where the Hell that jacket is now; the strong winds snatched it away from me, along with my black Konoha headband.

It's hard to keep my eyes open for more than a short moment, but in those small moments I notice that it is nearly impossible to see through the sheer amount of sand being swept about by the storm. I guess that would be why it's called a "_sand_ storm," right?

My entire body aches from trying so hard to stand my ground against the harsh winds and debris. The pain is slowly shifting from intense to intolerable. A stronger gust of wind knocks me on my ass.

"Damn it!" I yell, but I can hardly hear my own voice over the roar of the desert winds. Seriously, who the Hell would actually _desire_ to live here? I manage to crawl on my knees, and I lean forwards to try and get my face out of the wind's path. That helps a little, so I also tuck my head into the creases of my elbows and lean forward a little more. I must look like I'm in some sort of earthquake drill back at the Ninja Academy.

To my dismay, it feels like the storm is actually getting worse instead of better. Or maybe my body is just getting weaker from the winds' constant assaults. Either way, it's getting hard for me to just stay conscious.

I'm about to pass out, but suddenly I see shadows on the ground in front of me, and the wind lets up a little, like something's shielding my body from it. Is there really someone else here? How the Hell are they even able to move?

I'm in such a weakened state that I allow myself to swallow the little bit of pride I have left, "Help…" I say, and I hear my voice crack with strain, "Please… Please help me…"

I feel this person's arms wrap tightly around me, and I'm ridiculously grateful; I lean into them, and discover that it's someone with a surprisingly small frame… That's just great. So this seemingly scrawny person can bear the strength of the sand storm and yet _I_ can't. It's probably because this person lives here. Because I know I'm not really that weak… Or am I? I really hope that this person isn't a girl, because I don't think my ego can possibly take any more damage today… And I guess I'm going to have to start lifting weights when I get back home…

Anyways, I know I'm about to pass out from my physical suffering and exhaustion, but I still try to sneak a glance at my savior before I go. But my vision is already so clouded… All I can see is a blur of white robes…

…..

I wake up with a massive headache, but the rest of my body is surprisingly comfortable. I soon realize that it's because I'm in a rather large and luxurious bed with the blankets pulled up to my shoulders. I get a quick glance at my surroundings; it's still light outside, and beams of sunlight pour through the room's open window. A warm breeze floats through the room and caresses my face.

My head throbs with immense pain, and I close my eyes tightly with a loud groan. I try to move and immediately regret it; I almost cry out at how much my sunburn hurts.

"You're awake?" someone says, and I can immediately tell that the person is both young and male. I'm guessing that this is the voice of the person who saved me. Has he stayed by my side this whole time? I suddenly feel really guilty; I hope I wasn't asleep for too long.

I don't have the strength to pick up my head and make eye contact with this stranger. In fact, I can't even open my eyes again, so I stop trying.

I must look horrible, because I feel him move to sit beside me on the right side of the bed. I gasp slightly as he brushes my bangs off my face and runs his left hand through my hair. His hand feels really cold on my burned skin. I feel my stomach twist nervously; this feels frighteningly uncomfortable and awkward coming from someone I can't even see, but his touch is amazingly gentle and comforting.

He takes my silence as an approval. I can feel that my face must be bright red with embarrassment, but he probably can't tell the difference with my sunburn. To my relief, he doesn't say anything about it, "Are you okay? Is there anything you need or want?" He asks gently. His cool and calm voice sounds soothing and somehow familiar to me.

I pause, wondering if I should just stay silent. It takes a lot of effort for me to finally speak, and my voice comes out in mumbles, "Yeah… I'm fine… Thanks," I murmur. I'm starting to get used to the pain, so I try to open my eyes a little.

"Wha-? _Gaara?_" I question loudly when I see his pale face over mine. No wonder that this "stranger" had been acting so weird; we were already friends! But I suddenly feel horribly awkward. I quickly adjust myself so that our faces aren't so close.

"Y-You didn't know it was me?" Gaara stammers. His face gets the slightest tint of red to it.

I laugh at his expression, "No," I see the hurt expression on his face and quickly correct myself, "But I'm certainly glad it is," I finish with a toothy smile. I force myself to sit up, and he eyes me cautiously. He has his arms out in front of him like he thinks I'm going to fall back down.

"Oh… Gaara… I'm fine… Really," I reassure him. He lowers his arms, but the careful look on his face remains. It's nice to have someone this worried about me, especially someone like Gaara, who's usually so calm and cool. I guess I must be important to him; I'm flattered, actually.

He was right to be worried, though; my body refuses to support me for very long, and I start to fall backwards. He quickly pulls me forwards and grabs my shoulders to keep me sitting up straight.

"Thanks," I murmur with embarrassment. I'm not used to being this annoyingly _useless_.

He doesn't say anything, but instead moves me to lean against him, "Wait, you don't have to-"

"It's fine," he cuts me off with a blank tone.

I pout theatrically at first, but then I feel bad, "I'm sorry…"

"What is there to even be sorry about?"

"… I'm being such a burden…"

"It's just one less favor I owe you, then."

I laugh, remembering how he had always babbled on about how much I'd done for him, and how much he owed me, when really I don't think I did anything special, "There you go again," I tease.

I'm still really uncomfortable with the idea of accepting help from others, especially him. My whole body is shaking slightly, and I think it's because of how close we are. So I try to gently push away from him to sit up on my own, and when he stops me, I frown, "Gaara, I'm fine," I say, trying to seem calm and strong.

He ignores my comment and slowly pulls me into an embrace with this cautious expression, like he's afraid that any movement might hurt me… Or maybe he's just afraid I'll object again.

After a few moments of making myself look really aggravated followed by a really awkward silence, Gaara carefully slides one of his hands up and down the middle of my back while the other continues holding me steady. My body automatically relaxes at how surprisingly good it feels. I guess it's because I'm not used to this; usually _I'm_ not the one who's being comforted. I… I'm not used to being this… _Vulnerable._

I keep my arms at my sides, feeling really heavy all of a sudden. I guess I'm still tired. I lean into him more so I don't have to try and hold myself up. But when I do, my stomach squirms anxiously and my entire body feels warm. What the Hell is going on with me?

"It doesn't seem like you're 'fine' to me," Gaara says quietly when I suddenly let him support almost all of my weight. I can't see his face from my angle, but I can tell just from the tone of his voice that he's smirking.

I laugh a little, and he pulls away to look at me while – thankfully – still holding my shoulders, "So why are you here in Suna in the first place?" he asks blankly, but his eyes are filled with suspicion.

"Well, I just completed a nearby mission with my team, and we figured – well mostly I did – that we should come by and visit. And then the storm came all of a sudden, and I got separated… I hope they're all okay…" I bite my lip and look downwards.

Gaara uses his right hand to gently lift my chin back up, and I feel my heart skip a beat as I notice how close our faces are now, "I'm sure they're fine," he says reassuringly.

I try to look like our closeness is not affecting me, but I know I must be failing miserably… Hopefully he doesn't notice, "Yeah… But it's hard to believe that when I think of how exhausted _I_ was out there…"

"But you were on your own," Gaara argues calmly, and I'm happy he's defending me, even if it's from myself, "Besides; they wouldn't be badly hurt, even if they weren't able to find shelter. Usually people just get worn out more than anything else."

"I don't know about that; it hurt me pretty damn bad," I say with a nervous chuckle, "That's why I'm so happy you saved me," I add with a big grin. I pause, "And… Took care of me…" My stomach squirms again as I remember how I felt with him catering to me. And how I still feel with him so close to me like this. My face feels like it is on fire.

"It's the least I can do, especially after everything you've done for me," Gaara responds with a little smile that adds this amazing warmth to his expression. I can feel my heart beating a lot faster than normal. The constant thudding is becoming almost _painful_.

"Stop it," I say, and I feel my face turning red. He can smile all he wants, but I hate when he says corny shit like that, because it makes me so embarrassed. He gives me way too much credit all the time.

He looks amused by my embarrassment, "I just like to let you know that I appreciate you," he murmurs with that same annoying admiring look. He tried to hide his aggravation when he sees me roll my eyes, "But really Naruto, I care about you, and I like that it seems like you care about me too."

He gently squeezes my shoulders for emphasis, and I subtly put my hand on my chest, willing my heart to slow down; does he even know what he's doing to me right now? After the initial shock of hearing that, I smirk playfully like his words didn't emotionally affect me, "Did you just say, '_seems like_?' It wasn't obvious enough that I _really_ like you, huh?" I tease him. He smiles awkwardly like this is new information, and I laugh at him again. He's so oblivious sometimes… Yeah, I'm a hypocrite for saying that, I know.

Gaara keeps eye contact with me as he starts to absently run his hand through my hair like before. I can feel my whole body starting to heat up, but I can't help but smile; the attention feels so good, and strangely enough, I'm beginning to _like_ and _want_ this bizarre feeling of warmth throughout my body… I'm actually starting to enjoy having him this close to me… I still feel really vulnerable, but I'm beginning to really trust him as well… But I'm not confident enough to continue looking him in the eyes, especially since my contradicting emotions are making me so confused right now.

"Naruto…" Gaara murmurs almost inaudibly. He starts caressing my left cheek with one hand, tracing the three lines. And he puts his other hand on the small of my back, and I feel my shirt ride up as he slides his hand underneath the fabric. His hand feels soothingly warm against my _not-burned _skin. He leans closer to me, and I can hear his shallow breathing, as if he's almost as nervous as I am. I'm seriously wondering if he's going to try and kiss me… W-Wait a minute! Surely I'm just jumping to conclusions! I mean, this _is_ Gaara I'm talking about! My _friend_! Who's a _guy_! But… But does that make me vain? Is it wrong for me to think that he _might_ like me in _that way_? Is it wrong for me to even think about him and me…? Well… _Together?_ And is it wrong that…? That there's this part of me that actually _wants_ him to kiss me? I suddenly feel the need to know if… Do I have feelings for him? And… Does he really have feelings like that for me too? Or… Am I just making too much out of nothing?

Before I can think those questions through any further, the door to the room clicks open. I franticly push my body away from Gaara's and almost fall over in the process.

Gaara calmly turns his face to the direction of the door, "Ever heard of knocking?" he asks in a monotone voice.

"Sorry, I didn't know that I would be _interrupting something_," Gaara's brother Kankuro replies, and even though I look away, I can tell just from his tone that he's smirking suggestively.

'_If only there was really something to interrupt,'_ I think automatically, and as soon as I do, I blush and try to shake it out of my mind. Thankfully Gaara doesn't seem to notice my obvious reaction.

In fact, Gaara didn't even flinch at Kankuro's comment, which makes me wonder if there have been previous conversations similar to this… Does Kankuro think that Gaara likes me? And if so… That means Gaara must talk about me… I smile to myself, and my body feels warm again. But then I remember that I'm not alone, and I hope neither of them noticed.

"What did you want, anyways?" Gaara asks his brother in the same blank voice as before.

"I came here to tell you that you need to take a break. You've shut yourself in here ever since you found him out there in that storm; it's time for you to at _least_ get something to eat. I'm glad that blondie here finally woke up and seems to be okay, but please, Gaara. You really need to take care of yourself."

I suddenly feel awful, "Gaara… How long have I been asleep?"

Gaara bites his lip and stays silent, so Kankuro answers for him, "Quite a few hours, I think. Gaara's been so stubborn; he's refused to leave your side."

I feel Gaara tense up beside me, like that was something he didn't want me to know. But knowing that he cares about me to that extreme gives me this sudden warm and happy feeling in my chest that completely drowns out any guilt I had before.

"Fine," Gaara grumbles. A quick glance at his face tells me that he's blushing, and I can't help but smile. He gets an even deeper blush on his face when he notices my captivated expression before I can get rid of it.

"Umm… I'm going to get something to eat," Gaara murmurs as we both try to get a hold of ourselves. From the corner of my eye I can see Kankuro smirking again.

Thankfully Gaara manages to recover quickly enough, "Would you like anything?" He asks me as he stands up, leaving me alone on the bed. For the first time, I notice what he's wearing: A loose pair of black capris that falls alluringly low on his hips, fishnet knee highs that draw attention to his thin-but-toned calves, and a tight-fitting black tank top that's a little too short for him, leaving a tempting amount of skin showing between the shirt and the waistband of his pants.

I wonder just how long I've been distracted by that, because he suddenly folds his arms over his chest, "Naruto?" he asks impatiently.

It's hard for me just to come up with a coherent sentence, "Oh… Umm… Some water would be fine… I guess…" I mumble, forcing myself to move my gaze back to his face. I can feel myself blush even worse than before.

I give Kankuro my best death glare when I see him trying not to laugh at me. It has no effect on him though, and I suddenly remember that he's lived with Gaara his entire life, and his glares are much more frightening.

I think Gaara may have realized by now that I'm interested in him, but thankfully he doesn't seem to notice just _how much._ It probably took so long for _me_ to notice my feelings for him because of all the years of being teased back home… Speaking of which, when my friends back in Konoha find out about this, I'm sure they'll have a field day. I'm sure they'll _never_ let me live it down (as it is, it doesn't look like Kankuro will, either).

But at this point, I couldn't care less.

Note: Here's the first chapter. It took me so long to figure out where I wanted this story to go. At first I wanted it to be a one-shot, but then I got so many ideas that I wanted to get down.

And yes, I have come to terms with the fact that I can't make Gaara seme. Sorry folks. I tried, believe it.

Please review; I'd really appreciate it. :)


	2. Chapter 2: First

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, it would turn into a sappy Shojo manga.

Chapter 2

First

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and try to follow the two of them into the kitchen – I assume that's where they would go to get food – but Gaara hears me and looks over his shoulder, "Just stay here, you shouldn't be moving around too much yet," he says calmly.

My first instinct is to argue childishly, but he gives me this sympathetic smile when he sees my aggravated expression. I can feel my face heat up like before. I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I just sit there with this stupid expression on my face as I watch them exit.

Still within earshot, I hear Gaara tell Kankuro that after eating, he is to find my friends and make sure that they're okay. Oh wow, I had actually forgotten about them… Yeah, that's pretty bad of me, I know.

I hear Kankuro sigh and reluctantly agree to go and help my friends. I smile to myself; I know he must hate doing boring grunt work almost as much as I do.

They didn't shut the door behind them, and I see that on the other side of the doorway is Gaara's office. So I assume that this bedroom belongs to him; whether he uses it or not. Maybe he does, because I see a couple of possessions lying around… I suddenly wonder how often he goes back to his old home with his siblings…

They've only been gone for a few seconds, and already I'm snooping around. On the bedside table next to the empty glass is a picture surrounded by a simple black frame. I pick it up and see Gaara and his siblings somewhere in the village, and I can't help but smile. Kankuro and Temari are grinning, and Gaara has the slightest hint of a smile in his eyes. They probably took the picture when Gaara first became Kazekage, because they look a couple of years younger than they are now.

I put the picture down and notice that the table has a drawer attached to it. It has a keyhole, but I discover that Gaara didn't lock it as I open it and see that there's a blue binder inside… I can't resist. I quickly glance at the door to make sure that Gaara isn't back yet, and then I pull the binder out of the drawer.

I half-expect to find really important documents that I can't understand, but I don't. As I flip through all of the hole-punched white-lined papers, I find that the binder is completely filled with poetry – mostly non-rhyming free verse – and prose.

"This is wrong…" I think aloud as I look up from the binder. I mentally warn myself not to read what he's written, but my curiosity gets the best of me. I start to read one of the poems in the middle of the binder.

After reading about two prose and three short poems, I'm tearing up. People who don't know Gaara that well would _never_ suspect this kind of depressing and heart wrenching shit to come out of a cool and calm person like him. Even I had forgotten how much he's been through in the time that I've been here; he's gotten so good at hiding his pain from others. But I guess he had to find out another way to get out his feelings, not that he's not taking it out on other people, right? And I know he's definitely not the kind of guy that likes to "talk it out."

But the poem on the next page really catches my interest, mainly because the date at the top says it was written in this year on my birthday, which was actually only a couple of months ago. Like the majority of the other poems, it's untitled, but right away from the first couple of lines I can tell that his mood was way different when he was writing this one. He was writing about how he really cared about a specific person, and I immediately ruled out his siblings as I discovered that this poem had lovesick intentions behind it. The fact that Gaara has a crush makes me beam, almost like I'm proud of him or something. I was convinced it was Matsuri or Sari until I saw that the physical and personal traits he was describing didn't really fit either of them. It's funny though, because I would have never guessed that blonde, ditzy, and bubbly was really his type… Well, that's not exactly the way he worded it, but I'm assuming. I'm trying to picture this blonde haired, blue eyed, overly helpful and enthusiastic girl in my head until I come across the pronoun "he."

I stop reading there because my breath catches in my throat, I murmur curse words to myself with wide eyes. I can't stop staring at the page. When exactly did he plan on telling me that he was gay? Did he even plan on telling me at all? I mean… He would trust me enough to tell me, right? Unless… Blonde hair… Blue eyes… My heart starts thumping so hard and loud that it physically hurts. I hurriedly read the rest of the free verse poem, and now there's no mistaking it. He's really writing about _me_… About _crushing_ on _me_…

"I should have known you would do that."

I look up with a horrified expression to see Gaara standing in the doorway with food and drinks in his hands. I panic, and the binder slides off my lap and onto the floor. I don't look at his face; I just can't, "Gaara… I…"

"How much did you….-? Never mind, I can tell just by looking at you," he says quietly, and when I finally look up at him, I can't read his expression at all, which really worries me. He puts the food down on the bedside table and sits on the edge of the bed, on my right.

"G-Gaara… I'm… I'm so sorry…" I stammer. He doesn't even look at me; he's staring off in front of him with that unidentifiable expression… Actually, he almost looks indecisive about something… Maybe… Maybe he's deciding if he wants to kick me out or not… Or maybe he's just trying not to beat the shit out of me…

I plead with him, "That was really wrong of me, Gaara, and I'm really sorry… I shouldn't have…"

He's still not acknowledging me, and I can't tell if he's tuning me out or not, so I gently put my hand on his shoulder, "Gaara… I… Please…" I trail off because he's still not listening. I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I may have just completely lost his trust, and no amount of apologies is ever going to fix that. He probably never wants to talk to me again. I can't… I really don't want to lose him… I suddenly feel really scared… I feel… _Lost_.

But I guess you can say Gaara "finds" me. He suddenly turns to face me, and he tilts my chin up slightly. He leans in, and as his surprisingly soft lips press against my own, I feel all my worries float away. So _that's_ what he looked so indecisive about before… I smile with relief in between kisses.

His lips have an unidentifiable taste to them, but it's definitely not normal… I think he's wearing some sort of lip balm… Had he…? Had he actually planned on kissing me all along? Ha, so I guess that was another good reason to send Kankuro away… My face turns bright red in recognition of all this.

I feel my ass starting to slide off the edge of the bed, and I guess he noticed too, because he moves me more towards the center of the mattress so I have a good amount of room to sit.

After a few more kisses, it's like I get this surge of confidence. Why should I hold back if I know for certain he likes me just as much as I like him? I gently bite his ear lobe, and I feel his whole body tense up in response – yeah, you weren't expecting _that one_, were you, Gaara? But now I can feel him trying not to laugh at me… Almost like I'm some inexperienced child… That actually pisses me off a little. True, the only experience I've had before this was that "accident" with Sasuke – come on, we all know he enjoyed it – and that scary chick who tried to kill me, but it can't be that much less experience than Gaara's had, right…? _Am I really wrong about that?_ I can't even picture Gaara being with someone else now that I know he likes me.

But anyways, if Gaara likes to think that I'm immature and inexperienced, then I'll just have to prove him wrong. I wrap one arm around his waist and easily slide my hand under his shirt. I feel him shudder as my other hand grabs his shoulder. I lean forward, gently pushing him backwards. I fully expect him to comply, but he doesn't. I gasp and tense up as he grabs the wrist of my hand that has been on his back. He persuasively pushes me up against the wooden headboard of the bed frame, and I completely give myself up to him. I know it's weird that I'm hesitating, but I'm just not used to being so submissive like this; it's a little frightening for me, actually… To let him have all the control… But… I truly feel like I can trust him… Though I keep wincing in pain from my horrible sunburns.

Gaara's hands slowly alternate combing through my hair, stroking my cheeks, and massaging my back and sides. It feels so good that I let out a soft moan as his lips move to my neck. I know I'm going to find a hickey or two later on, and that thought doesn't make me upset in the least.

After a little longer, he tries to pull away from me, but I hold him down; my legs gently but firmly wrap around him, and so do my arms. He pauses for a moment – probably deciding whether or not to argue with me – but then he continues kissing me, moving back to my lips. One of his hands gently cups the back of my neck for better control.

The sudden hook-up slowly loses the feeling of newness and urgency. My body relaxes again as Gaara and I both calm down a little. He lingers for a moment, and then he gently kisses me on the lips one last time. I'm greatly disappointed when he finally pulls away from me, panting a little. He leans back on his hands and looks up at the ceiling.

Even though I'm probably just as tired as he is, I pout theatrically, "What's wrong? Was I too much for you to handle?" He looks back at me and smirks in response to my teasing, but he looks too exhausted to actually say anything back. I didn't say it out loud, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how not-awkward that was, considering it was my first time _willingly_ kissing someone. And once again, I try hard not to think about how much prior experience Gaara's possibly already had… I'll have to ask him about that later…

I crawl over to Gaara and cradle his face with my hands. He looks a little hesitant, but thankfully he doesn't try to fight my affection. He slowly closes his eyes and trusts me as I pull my face closer to his. My nose lightly brushes his cheek on my way to the tattoo on his forehead, which I kiss lightly. He hugs me closely in response, and I lean down to wrap my arms around him and awkwardly snuggle against his chest. I'm pretty sure it looks weird, but hey, it's comfortable.

Gaara takes a breath like he wants to say something. But he pauses awkwardly, as if he's deciding something important. It's almost like… He's afraid to say what's on his mind, maybe? He takes another deeper breath and moves his face closer to my ear, "I… I love you," he murmurs, and those three words suddenly take on a new meaning for me. They feel so much more important to me than ever before. My body – my chest in particular – feels insanely warm.

I don't respond right away, and I feel him start to get nervous that he had accidentally said something wrong. His fear of rejection and his need for my approval makes me smile, but I decide not to torture him for too long, "I love you too," I say with a smirk.

I squeeze him tighter, and we stay like that for a long time. The steady sound of his heartbeat is strangely soothing to me. I want to stay like this with him, but tiredness hits me hard, and the pain and exhaustion from earlier today returns to me. My head throbs with excruciating discomfort. I reluctantly give in to the searing pain, and I feel my body weaken in Gaara's arms.

"Get some sleep, Naruto," Gaara murmurs softly. My arms slowly fall limp by my sides and I give him the burden of holding up my entire body weight. I wait for a sign of irritation, like an exasperated sigh, but he just cradles me in his arms and gently kisses me on the lips one more time, "I love you," he repeats softly as he lays me down and pulls the covers up to my shoulders. I want to respond, but my need for rest is pulling me out of consciousness. I just smile tiredly and hope he understands that I love him too, with all my heart. And those feelings will never fade.

END.

Hope y'all enjoyed this one, as it's completely different than what I originally thought it was going to be (but I like this a lot better).

. OF COURSE I ended the story using the title in the last sentence (I think I did that in one or two other fics, as well). I LOVE sappy crap like that, and what's a fanfiction by me without a sappy ending? 33333333

. I finally completed a fanfiction without making Gaara cry/die/get hurt. It's a record! (He's my favorite character, and yet my tendency is to torture him. hahaha).

Please review; it helps me improve and makes me feel super-spectacular-awesome. :D


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